Mack CEO keeps on truckin' as 'Undercover Boss'

Denny Slagle struggles as factory worker on CBS show

Denny Slagle, President and CEO of Mack Trucks, the second largest manufacturer… (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO, STUDIO…)

February 18, 2011|By Kathy Lauer-Williams, OF THE MORNING CALL

After a week working incognito on truck assembly lines, Mack Trucks Chief Executive Officer Denny Slagle discovered he was probably lucky to be working in the board room.

Slagle worked at three Mack plants, including the one in Lower Macungie Township, for Sunday's episode of the CBS series "Undercover Boss."

"Slow down," cautions an employee at the Mack distribution plant in Baltimore as a disguised Slagle careens around on a forklift.

"I think I got that message everywhere I went," Slagle said.

In previews, Slagle can also be seen nearly losing his hat on the line and accidentally scratching a Mack bumper with an air gun. CBS said that Slagle also brought an assembly line to a "grinding halt."

"The promos haven't been encouraging, but I can laugh at myself," Slagle said in an interview Friday. "I'm probably a better CEO than a line worker."

For the show, Slagle sports a scruffy beard and mustache and sheds his suit and tie for a Mack T-shirt and baseball cap. Workers were told that Slagle was an unemployed man in a competition for a job.

"I spent the entire week worried about being recognized," Slagle said. "I get to Macungie quite a bit for meetings and I always walk along the line."

He needn't have worried.

"I was taken in hook, line and sinker," Jeff Manty said Friday. The Lower Macungie worker showed Slagle how to assemble a truck bumper. "I thought he was a framer from Maryland named Roger. I had a lot of pity for him because he was unemployed."

Manty said Slagle tried hard. But he admitted he "wasn't impressed," calling him "rough around the edges" and chiding that "he could have at least shaved."

The 875 workers at the Lower Macungie plant assemble highway, construction and refuse trucks. It makes all the company's trucks sold in North America.

Mack was approached by the producers of "Undercover Boss" last spring. The top-10 show for CBS draws about 13 million viewers a week.

"Once we got over the initial shock, we looked at the risks and opportunities," Slagle said. "We decided it was a great way to showcase some of our employees and highlight those unsung heroes. And it also would give us a chance to show what we're doing at Mack Trucks."

Slagle had never worked on an assembly line, but did work in construction as a youth.

"At one time I was good with a hammer but you'd never know it from the show," he said. "As you'll see, I was essentially in the way. I had a lot of nervous energy and was anxious to do a good job. One thing I took away from the experience was that if I slowed down and took my time I would be more productive."

Slagle also wanted to check on morale.

"I was surprised when I got down on line how much the employees cared about the company," he said. "There was a great sense of caring for the Mack brand."

He also was impressed by the "ordinary people doing extraordinary things."

"The stories of people I worked with make the show," Slagle said. "I had a good time getting to know the people. It feels like a family."

One of the stories is heartbreaking. Lower Macungie worker Allan Iezzi told Slagle about his grandchildren, ages 4 and 7, who have been diagnosed with a terminal genetic illness.

Iezzi gets choked up talking about the compassion that Slagle showed.

"His heart really listened to my heart," Iezzi said. "This is the greatest opportunity for me to tell their story."

Slagle also was impressed by the skill and craftsmanship demonstrated by the employees.

"These people know how to build trucks," he said.

Slagle's air gun slipped while he was tightening a nut, and he scratched the bumper of a truck.

"I felt so badly about that," Slagle admitted. "These guys were putting things together in a quality way and I should've been the guy to raise my hand. Instead I kind of rubbed it and hoped it would go away."

Again, he needn't have worried.

"He did scratch it," Manty said. "But we took care of it so it met the Mack standards."

Slagle discovered an undercurrent of concerns about the potential of layoffs and rumors that Mack would move factory operations to Mexico.

"It made me understand the decisions we make at headquarters [in Greensboro, N.C.] impact not just the employees but their families and their community," he said. "It made me determined to make it work and build the best truck in America. I just feel I'm a better manager overall from the experience."

Slagle, who hasn't seen the show, will be watching it with his family Sunday.

"It's a little nerve-wracking," he admitted. "I hope it's entertaining and tells a good story."